Hart Center

November 13, 2010
Hart Center (Capacity: 3,600)
Worcester, MA
Holy Cross Crusaders vs College of Charleston Cougars
Final Score: 84 – 93

* The arena was re-visited February 10, 2024

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On the opening weekend of the College Basketball season, we made the three-hour trip to Central Massachusetts for a stadium double-header, starting at Holy Cross’ Hart Center. The College of Holy Cross is a small, private catholic school that is very well regarded and quite desirable to attend. The school is one of many colleges across the city of Worcester, which is the second largest in the state with a population around 200,000. Thus, Wormtown is much more city (and a rather generic one to visit) than college town. The Crusaders have a storied basketball history, winning the 1947 National Championship with Bob Cousy on the team. Tom Heinsohn then led the program to the 1954 NIT Title. Holy Cross was at its peak in this era as future NCAA Tournament appearances only came once per decade thereafter. They joined the Patriot League in 1991 and the best run for the squad came from 2001 – 2003 where as conference champions, they gave high seeded teams a scare each March. While in the region to check out UMass basketball, I stopped back in Worcester to catch an afternoon game in 2024. Since my last visit, the Crusaders finished in the Top 3 of the league standings only twice and their lone NCAA Tournament return came via an improbable run in 2016 as a #9 seed. The Hart Center was built in 1975 and renovations have made it a modern, vibrant building with all of the purple and it features one of the best atmospheres in the league.
Prestige Ranking: 3 out of 5

Location

As briefly mentioned, there is little to do from a visitor standpoint as Worcester’s “attractions” include an Art Museum and other fairly typical things seen in mid-sized cities. Not much interested me, except I did stop into the the city’s History Museum, which was a small hodgepodge of historical stuff. Worcester Common in the heart of the city isn’t a bad spot to sit on a nice day. Downtown is a 5-minute drive away as Holy Cross is a bit south of the city, within the College Hill neighborhood. That name is no joke as you certainly are up on a hill. Campus is beautiful and Holy Cross is small enough that you can make a pleasant walk through it in a short time with aesthetically pleasing visuals all around. Just have strong legs as there undoubtedly will be some uphill walking. The arena is situated on the south side of campus at the top of the hill.
Location Ranking: 4.5 out of 10

Accessibility / Parking

The main interstate through Massachusetts is I-90 (the Mass Pike) and a branch of that goes off into Worcester. It’s a quick and easy drive once you get onto I-290 as Exit 12 goes right to campus. Be ready for rapidly getting in the far right lane however. If you’re coming from the north side of the city, Google or Apple maps may bring you an odd way to the arena as I found myself driving up an insane hill by some frat houses. Once you reach College Street and then the campus’ main entrance, signage for parking at the arena is not obvious. Both times I attended, I found the lots to be mostly full due to other things going on. Thankfully I got there an hour early and pulled into a space in the back. There definitely can be issues closer to the game as I saw people making there own spots, sometimes dangerously. Congestion isn’t crazy getting out and when winding your way back to 290, just make sure to follow your GPS closely.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6 out of 8

Exterior

It’s not just a basketball arena that you are walking into. The Hart Center is a large combination of buildings as it includes a hockey rink, swimming pool, main arena, side gym and an indoor football facility. Phew! That last part is a new addition since I was here in 2010. They also changed the overall look of the complex from “1970s brick” to a more modern brick layout. The top half has gray siding and there is a glass indentation for the main entrance. It looks decent overall.
Exterior Ranking: 6.5 out of 10

Concourse

The renovation between my appearances did wonders for the inside as there is a lot of room to maneuver. Entering into the main atrium, to the left is a small gym that they divided into a Family Fun Zone and an alumni buffet. Straight ahead is a hallway of sorts that has a sleek look with charcoal and purple coloring. Concessions, wall displays and bathrooms are found here. An added bonus is the upstairs as you’ll find more open space and even a few chairs to relax in at halftime. The gym is a separate entrance and once inside, the ground-level corner entrance is a little awkward as finding your section is not clearly evident.
Concourse Ranking: 3 out of 5

Food

At the cleverly named “Crucessions”, you’ll find a small variety of offerings. “Tots and Tenders” was the closest thing to resembling a meal as most everything else was just snacks. No burgers, pizza or fries here. They do have beer and the Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company is a local product that provides a nice sample of what Worcester can offer.
Food Ranking: 3 out of 8

Interior

This is certainly more like a gym than anything else, but one that does feature some character. The seating closest to the floor is in the form of bleachers that are in four sections following the outlines of the court (none in the corners). These have plastic butt-molding seats making things slightly more comfortable compared to a wooden bleacher. The purple also gives the gym more vibrancy. Next up, are three rows of chairback seats that surround the court in an octagon shape, just without the ends. There is a walkway that goes 360° above those seats and this allows for some standing room. Lastly, there is a third “level” of bleachers on the sidelines. It’s an arena that seems kind of awkwardly pieced together for the seating, but with solid sightlines and school spirit.
Interior Ranking: 7 out of 14

Scoreboard

At the top of each end wall is a video screen…a long one at one end and a pair of smaller screens at the other. The screen is not huge for video, but good enough and with enough clarity. Score display is a little awkward because I found myself needing to get reoriented each time, especially when finding timeouts and fouls. Replays were shown when needed.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4

Displays

Near the entrance, there is a full-size statue of Bob Cousy and a brief description of his career. This is a good introduction to the arena and the program’s most famous player. The walls inside the concourses are nicely decorated with pictures, plaques and the mission statement featuring the shield logo. The most prominent display is the Varsity Club Hall of Fame with members each getting a lengthy inscription. Within the arena, Holy Cross does a nice job displaying banners and the 1947 and 1954 championships stand out quite well. There are retired numbers and Tournament appearances up in the rafters as well.
Displays Ranking: 4 out of 6

Cost

Parking was free, as it usually is for the low-major schools and tickets were reasonable as well. Seats go for $10, $15 or $20 and the unusual part is that it is the closest seats that are cheapest (probably because they don’t have backs). Tickets do go up $5 if you wait to buy on game-day, so it’s best to get them a day in advance. Concessions were a little out of whack given the event as a Hot Dog cost $6 and a Beer was $9.
Cost Ranking: 7 out of 8

Fan Support

Attendance numbers generally put Holy Cross in the middle of the pack of the Patriot League, typically behind Navy or if a school has a really good team. It does feel that there is good support for the program as the alumni base is supportive and Worcester follows the team a bit. The season opener I attended in 2010 had a really good crowd with around 2,500 on hand. It was smaller for the Saturday Afternoon game I saw in 2024 (around 1,000). Not great within all of NCAA Basketball (ranked #297 in attendance). I just was pleased to see and hear a passion for the team. I’m pretty sure if you saw the Crusaders have a top record within the league, they would lead the Patriot in attendance. Remarkably, the last time Holy Cross hosted a PL Tournament game was 2014 and they had a weeknight crowd of 1,027 for that Quarterfinal.
Fan Support Ranking: 4 out of 8

Atmosphere

Both games featured a great atmosphere as this is a group of fans that seem to care more than others at this level. They make solid noise after big plays and individual hollers take place if something makes them unhappy. The overall loudness of the gym is impressive, partly because of the acoustics and small arena size, partly because the noise generated. Behind each basket are the students and there were many of them that were organized in 2010. In 2024, it was the football team leading the charge and they were an intimidating group for the visiting team. They did have multiple chants including “Let’s Go Saders” and “Dribble, Dribble, Pass….” mimicking each possession for the other team. There is a very small pep band that were disorganized, but at least added a little to the atmosphere.
Atmosphere Ranking: 9.5 out of 14

Other Stuff

One of the things that always jumped out at me if I saw a Holy Cross game on TV before the renovation were those big numbers outlined in gold or white that are on the walls above the top seating. These went around the arena 1 thru 10, awkwardly defining the sections for the highest seating…..Before arriving for the game in 2024, they were handing out purple donuts. That was a nice treat!

Game (Initial Visit)

In the game, the visiting College of Charleston Cougars showed me they are an NCAA Tournament quality team. Led by coach Bobby Cremins, the Cougars were remarkably efficient offensively, shooting 63% for the game and going 9/16 from the three-point line. Holy Cross shot very well too, but had a terrible free throw night, starting 8 for 17. It was competitive for the first twelve minutes and then the Crusaders slipped behind. Twice, Holy Cross tried to fight back, but they never could cut the lead to less than eight and CofC pulled away for the 93-84 win. Andrew Gouldelock had 18 points and 6 assists, while Andrew Keister had 16 for Holy Cross.

Stadium Experience Ranking: 60.5 out of 100